Yukon Treasure Hunter finds first $30,000 gold prize

The Northern Miner’s Great Canadian Treasure Hunt has its first big winner — and she’s from the Yukon. Whitehorse’s Gina Anderson struck gold near Dawson City, uncovering six one-ounce coins worth over $30,000.

Her golden find marks her as the first regional winner in the hunt. It comes just weeks after the Hunt’s first clue was given out.

“It felt a little bit unreal that it was actually there when we were looking,” Anderson told MINING.COM host Devan Murugan in a video interview Wednesday. “With a bit of local knowledge and a lot of clue deciphering, you get that ‘aha’ moment when all the pieces come together, and you think, ‘this is it.’”

Watch an interview with the winner.

Organized and launched by The Northern Miner last month, the coast-to-coast Treasure Hunt is for $1 million in gold coins minted from Agnico Eagle Mines’ (TSX, NYSE: AEM) Detour Lake site and an additional 12 monthly $25,000 rewards. The Hunt comprises sets of online clue releases that participants must figure out – which takes them down paths of knowledge exercises, puzzles and riddles.

With gold this week reaching a record high of over $3,720 per oz., the value of the prizes has now grown by about 11% since the Hunt started.

Thrill of the hunt

Anderson, who has done several other treasure hunts in the past, explained that the thrill of figuring out clues and the excitement of finding something are what motivated her to join TNM’s hunt.

“Who doesn’t like to hunt for gold? That’s super exciting,” she said.

Treasure hunting family

Daughter Cora was a big help in cracking the clues, the Whitehorse resident added.

“I feel like I’m raising the next generation of treasure hunters,” Anderson said. 

The night before they found the final clue near Dawson City, the family watched the movie “National Treasure” to hype the children up, before they piled into their van and drove six hours north to the historical Gold Rush town.

“It was really exciting that we were decoding the clues and we actually found the right location and searching for it was just really fun,” Cora told Murugan.

While Anderson said she has some knowledge of Canadian mining, joining the search was a crash course for her and opened her mind to various gold rushes in the west and coal and other minerals in the east.

“It really did help me understand the kind of influence that mining has had on our country and how it’s developed,” she said.

Investing in more hunting

So, how does she plan to spend her new golden $30,000?

“I do hope to take some of it at least and put it towards more treasure hunting,” she said. “Maybe put towards trying to find your big prize of $1 million.”

For more information, including full contest rules, FAQs and updates, visit treasure.northernminer.com. Follow @northernminer (X/FB/YouTube) | @thenorthernminer (IG) | @mining (X) | @miningdotcom (IG/FB/YouTube); @ceodotca (X/IG/FB/TikTok) | @ceocafilm (YouTube) for ongoing clues and community updates.